Sourdough Bread Recipe

I spoke about why I got into sourdough break making in this earlier post, here is the recipe for both a starter and the make the bread proper!

To make a sourdough starter you will need:

• 2 bowls
• A cup or mug
• Clean tea towel
• Wooden Spoon

You’ll also need these ingredients:

• Doves Farm Rye Flour
• Water

Place one mug / cup of flour and the same volume of water into one of your bowls and mix with a wooden spoon until all the lumps have gone. Cover with a tea towel and leave on your worktop.

Every day for the next 7-10 days repeat the following process. Take a clean bowl, transfer the mixture to this then and add one mug or cup of flour and the same volume of water. Stir and cover. The mixture will be sloppy.

After about 3 days you’ll start to see small bubbles on the top of the mixture, this is the fermentation. This is good! You may also notice a sour, brewery like smell and this is fine too.

Once you have done this for 7-10 days you’ll have quite a large quantity of starter in your bowl. Remove one cup of the mixture and place in clean bowl, this is the new starter for the next batch (the more you make of this, the better it gets!).

You now need to make your bread.

Using the rest of the starter, the larger amount, sprinkle 2-3 teaspoons salt into the mix and then work in enough rye flour to make a recognisable bread dough.

Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and knead it, adding more flour, if it’s very sticky, until you get a bread like ball of dough.

Transfer to a greased tray or loaf tin and slice across the top 2-3 slits.

Cover with a teatowel and leave to rise in your kitchen for at least 6 hours, but preferably 12. It will increase in size substantially.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 180C, gas 4, 350F for one hour until golden. Leave to cool before eating.

Will keep for a week without being in the fridge.

Enjoy!